THE doom clouds that hovered over Sixways in the aftermath of relegation from the Premiership have lifted and an air of positivity has swept through the camp, according to lock Will Bowley.

Since Richard Hill replaced Mike Ruddock as the Worcester Warriors boss there has been a change of mind-set and the whole place seems more upbeat as the club go about rebuilding their battered pride.

Bowley said: “When you are coming here every day and the team is losing week in, week out, then for the players, who are generally jovial, fun-loving people, it is hard to really get into the fun and banter when you’re not winning.

“This year, even since the start of pre-season, it has been upbeat and it has been good to see no-one is hanging on about what happened last year.

“It’s a new start for everyone with new coaches and a number of new players — as well as a new brand of rugby compared to what we’re used to.

“I think we’ve recruited well for the type of game Hilly wants to play. I’m a big supporter of open, flowing rugby — I’m not really a big fan of being a big, bruising battle every week. The guys here enjoy playing entertaining rugby and it’s up to us to be up to speed with what they want.”

Hill intends to regularly rotate his squad to keep all of the players fresh and give everyone an opportunity to impress, whereas Ruddock preferred to stick to a more rigid selection policy.

Several players have since voiced concerns over how they had to regularly play last season while carrying knocks and didn’t get to properly recharge their batteries.

At the same time, some players — such as Bowley — were lift kicking their heels in the ‘A’ team with not even a sniff of first team action.

However, for academy-produced second row Bowley, life at Worcester is looking much rosier now as there are opportunities for all under Hill, who is looking to deliver a more expansive brand of rugby.

Bowley explained: “The new style of play suits me better.

“I think what happened last year was that we got caught in not really knowing what style we were meant to be playing in each game.

“With Hilly, there might be a week when we have to play very territorial rugby and kick to the corners, but what he has outlined is when we can and can’t do that.

“At the moment, the tracks are good and it’s ideal for playing open rugby and I feel that my game is probably more suited to that — I like to get my hands on the ball.”